Jimmie Johnson to Have an Uphill Battle with Himself as He Learns His Way Around the Next Gen Car

Published 04/16/2024, 6:37 AM EDT

Oops! Looks like Jimmie Johnson’s return to the track didn’t go quite as planned. The seven-time Cup Series champion, who proudly holds the record for most wins at Texas Motor Speedway, had a disappointing run at Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. Despite his mastery at Texas, Jimmie Johnson struggled with the Next Gen car. Now, the question is, can Johnson overcome this?

But before answering that question, one would need to get to the root of the issue. And who else to do it better than Denny Hamlin, who recently got down and dirty discussing Johnson’s struggles.

Denny Hamlin makes a case for Jimmie Johnson

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Having started at the 36th position, Jimmie Johnson’s struggles began way before the waving of the green flag. Already overcoming a practice crash and a subsequent car change, Johnson could not find the right momentum from the very start. Adding to this, the #84 driver spun early due to the notorious bump between turns three and four at Texas. Although Johnson was not the only victim of the bump on race day, the incident added on to his struggles with the Next Gen car.

While discussing the issues faced by Johnson on his podcast Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin commented that things are going to be difficult for Johnson and his team. Revealing how Johnson’s driving style might become a problem with the new cars, Hamlin pointed out that Johnson is used to driving off the right rear. Comparing his own and Jeff Gordon’s driving technique to Johnson’s, Hamlin said that the latter usually likes to drive loose.

“Jimmie made a living and them some whole thing career on driving off the right rear. He drove his car really loose and it was fast in traffic. It was fast by itself. You know, really typically, the looser you can handle a car, the faster it’s gonna be. Kyle Larson drives off of the right rear as well, which is why he is so fast. Tyler Reddick does that as well.”

Further explaining what isn’t working for the &X Cup Series champion, the JGR driver shared, “I think that it’s just a difference in style. With these cars not having any real side force, you can’t get them sideways. So, where Jimmie would be loose in driving off the right rear, the car would start to pitch sideways and like, almost start to spin out.”

Hamlin also revealed that earlier, since the car had so much grip once it got sideways, it would kind of correct itself. However, this was not possible with the current Next Gen cars. “When they break sideways, it just goes… because of the rear quarter panels are really rounded where the cars that he was driving years ago were very flat on the right side. So he just doesn’t have that big parachute to hold them like he used to,” he said.

And it seems even Johnson had something similar to say as he talked about what went wrong at Texas Motor Speedway in a post-race interview on Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson was his own opponent during the “treacherous” Texas run

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Sometimes, even after you identify the issue, there’s hardly anything you can do it rectify it instantly. And perhaps that’s exactly what Jimmie Johnson’s going through. After coming out of the Texas race with a dismal P29 finish, the 7X Cup Series champion spoke at length at how the difference in mechanisms between older and newer cars have been affecting him heavily. On a similar note to that of Denny Hamlin, Johnson said, as per Motorspor.com, “I spent a lifetime running a car off the right rear. This car you just cannot do that. From the aero platform, the tire and I believe the side wall stiffness of the tire, you can’t slip and slide this car around like I like to do.”

The owner-driver also revealed how this is not the first time that he has faced such a issue, saying, “It got me in Charlotte – the last mile-and-a-half I was on in Charlotte – it got out front under me and I crashed.”

But surely Johnson had a strategy in mind. However, the driver revealed that owing to the Texas Motor Speedway’s unforgiving nature, things hardly worked out. “I kept telling myself coming into this weekend that I need to drive off the right front, and you drive through the right front and not my typical style of driving on or through the right rear tire. This track is really treacherous,” he said.

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Despite all odds, Johnson’s fans will undoubtedly be hoping for a turnaround in his next race. Meanwhile, it’s upon the #84 driver to tame the Next Gen car and pull up his way to the front of the pack. Do you think he’ll be able to do it?

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Written by:

Devyani Sharma is a NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. With a portfolio of over 500 articles, she is highly regarded for her ability to provide a nuanced and balanced perspective on the sport. With a Master's Degree in English literature, Devyani places great importance on the power of words and their ability to connect with readers.

Edited by:

Ariva Debnath

Jimmie Johnson to Have an Uphill Battle with Himself as He Learns His Way Around the Next Gen Car

Denny Hamlin makes a case for Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson was his own opponent during the “treacherous” Texas run

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